by Tammy Lee Morris

Created on: October 20, 2009

Halloween is here and if you are planning a party for adults, you need to set the mood with the tunes you choose. There are plenty of haunting songs available that will put partygoers into a creepy and gruesome mood. The key is choosing songs that give a sense of doom, dread, darkness and fright, with maybe a little fun mixed in. Here are a few of my personal choices that promise a sense of delicious darkness.

Instrumentals, Scores and Soundtracks

Sure, the theme from Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street and The Exorcist are probably among the most well-known creepy themes. Most movies have two separate soundtracks - one which is the wide-released songs used in the movie or inspired by the movie and the other that is full of the instrumental songs that provide the background scores and themes.

The instrumental soundtrack from Bram Stoker's Dracula is an excellent background for a Halloween party but the main theme by Wojciech Kilar is both well-recognized and haunting, making it an excellent choice for any party.

The movie Twilight has two soundtracks - one which is pop/rock songs and the other which is the instrumental score. The instrumental theme "Skin of a Killer" is, in my opinion, a great score and a perfect addition to any Halloween party.

For other creepy and haunting instrumentals, check out midnightsyndicate.com.

Movie and Television Soundtracks

The soundtrack to the movie Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight has great Halloween music choices including "Cemetery Gates" by Pantera, "Diadems" by Megadeth, "Hey Man, Nice Shot" by Filter and "Fall Guy" by Rollins Band.

From the HBO television series True Blood comes the rockabilly sound of "Bad Things" by Jace Everett - another favorite song of mine.

The Lost Boys soundtrack features the songs "Cry Little Sister (Thou Shall Not Fall)" by G Tom Mac HQ, "People are Strange" by Echo and the Bunnymen - a cover of The Doors' original version, and "Beauty Has Her Way" by Mummy Calls.

Another great soundtrack is from the movie Queen of the Damned. Most of the songs on the album are perfect for a Halloween party but my top choices are "Not Meant for Me" by Wayne Static, "System" by Chester Bennington, "Redeemer" by Marilyn Manson, "Headstrong" by Earshot, "Body Crumbles" by Dry Cell and "Before I'm Dead" by Kidney Thieves.

For general party music that will make guests shiver with delight or fright try one or all of these choices: The classic "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns-n-Roses; "Sound of Madness" by Shinedown; "Twisted Transistor" by Korn; "Hell's Bells" by AC/DC; "Paranoid" and "Ironman" by Black Sabbath; "Hired Gun" by Bride; "Dagula," "Superbeast," "More Human Than Human" and "Living Dead Girl" by Rob Zombie; "Dream Warriors" by Dokken, "Hide in the Rainbow" by Dio, "Bark at the Moon" by Ozzy Osbourne, "Sex and Candy" by Marcy Playground, and Curse of the Werewolf from Schoolyard Heroes. From the band Tourniquet comes three great songs: Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance, Perfect Night for a Hanging and Bearing Gruesome Cargo.

Check out youtube.com, pandora.com or amazon.com for these songs.

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